Kids and Travel - Whats a "Reasonable" level of travel?

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  HighAndDry on 29/01/2019 - 17:29

  +2

  Ah, 2 adults and 3 kids make for expensive holidays. It'd depend on where you go though. Overseas to Bali is much cheaper than overseas to Europe, for example.

  I think once every 3-4 years for a big holiday, but yearly holidays interstate, or nearby to Bali, or a cruise for example would be fairly reasonable if you can afford $8k per year on average.

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  altomic on 29/01/2019 - 17:36

  +3

  my kids are 13,11,9.

  we like to travel.

  Our trips have been-
  2018 - Japan 2 weeks, USA 2 weeks
  2017 - cairns - 1 week, India -10 days, vietnam/cambodia - 2 weeks, Japan - 2 weeks, China - 10 days
  2016 - Japan 2 weeks, Hawaii -7 days, Darwin -5 days.
  2015 - nothing
  2014 - Europe 4 weeks, Malaysia, Singapore, HK - 2 weeks.

  there was also sporadic trips to family in Victoria during this time.

  all trips were scored here on Ozbargain. many airfares were price errors or 2-for-1 travel deals, or just freakish luck.

  many of them were during the school term.

  my theory is - travel with them whilst they are relatively young. see varied stuff. do it relatively inexpensively, show the kids the "real world",

  they gather an understanding of how different people live and how well they "have it". also food, culture and currency conversion.

  2 of my kids are now in high school so the opportunity to travel during school term is decreased. but still we'll squeeze a trip in there somewhere.

  get travelling.

  • 

    willister on 29/01/2019 - 17:48

    +2

    Wow thats a lot of travelling.

    We've done so far:

    2015: New Zealand (8 days)
    2015: Vietnam (10 Days), unfortunately my MIL passed away and also this was a visit to my grandmother who is in her 90s.
    2016: Sunshine Coast (2 weeks). This was a great intro to kiddie pools for the older one.
    2017: Vietnam. Visiting the FIL whilst he is still healthy and my granny. But spent a good time at a resort as well.
    2018: Japan (Tokyo-Okinawa-Tokyo). Done whilst son #2 was in the tummy. Poorly planned mistake. Exxy, wrong time of the year (during the golden week) and copped a $900 one night price.

    I found the biggest thing even with decently priced air tickets was the accommodation, was a lot of $$$.

    I do like your approach for finding real good bargains though. I never considered that.

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  [Deactivated] on 29/01/2019 - 17:44

  +2

  Just my view, but see Australia while they are young. They don't really care.

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  mskeggs on 29/01/2019 - 17:47

  We have four kids, now 10 - 17.
  We camp with friends over Easter and usually one other 5 day break each year. Often summer holidays when other options are costly.
  We have been to New Zealand, Thailand, Fiji, Singapore/Malaysia, Vietnam, Bali, Japan in the last 12 years, plus extra trips for part of the family to Hong Kong, China and USA. Plus one kid on student exchange to Canada,and another going to Norway later this year.

  We always take the kids out of school to save money (though HSC exams have hampered that).
  Typical trip is 16 days, longest was 28 (and that got a bit frazzled by the end).

  I say go for it.
  There have a couple of lazy beach house weeks in there too.

• 

  Quantumcat on 29/01/2019 - 17:52

  +1

  A cruise will cost you less than $1k per person for a 1-2 week trip (if you can get them on sale especially) and you can put the kids in kids club for an hour or two when you need to. You get to visit some lovely islands and don't have to bother with the annoyance of travel - always amplified by kids. The 4 month old will need to grow up a bit though, not sure what the lower age cut off is, maybe 2 years old.

  Kids don't give a toss how much holidays cost. As a kid visiting my grandparents motel and spending a week running around it and exploring was the height of excitement and it didn't cost my parents anything except for 3 hours of fuel. They won't appreciate exotic destinations, camping for example will be way more enjoyable to a kid than a long flight to Europe and being dragged around museums etc.

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  [Deactivated] on 29/01/2019 - 18:01

  +3

  Whats a "Reasonable" level of travel?

  If in a plane I would say about 34,000 feet

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 29/01/2019 - 18:04

    Once they hit terminal velocity, it's much of a muchness.

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  SydStrand on 29/01/2019 - 18:58

  +2

  My parents took me to over a dozen countries before 12, and I spent half of it on my Game Boy. It was completely wasted on me. A four year-old probably won't appreciate the Sistine Chapel, so save some money and plan a modest holiday (even a road trip), they might even enjoy it more.

  • 

    twww on 30/01/2019 - 16:02

    Lol

    We just came back from a holiday. Our kids, 2 and 4, cared only about playing. Be that in a park, kids play area in a mall etc.

    Just as well we were there to visit family more so than the touristy stuff.

• 

  wordplay on 29/01/2019 - 19:51

  +3

  I wouldn't bother with any cultural stuff, 8 year old couldn't tell the difference between the old masters and more recent impressionist stuff, and then wanted everyone to stop looking at the boring stuff and look at his garfield book ('which has better drawings anyway'). turns out pigeons pooping on a statue are more interesting than the cultural majesty of Europe's best galleries and museums. if you are taking them just book plenty of stops to theme parks, hedge mazes, zoos, beaches, fast food joints and parks/forests (but don't go on big hikes, they get sore legs).

  I would just stay at home and wait until they are old enough to appreciate a real holiday, save the money so they can go on a contiki tour when they are 18 and really soak it all in.

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  Cheap Steve on 29/01/2019 - 22:28

  +1

  If you can afford it you should travel as much as you can whether your kids appreciate it or not.

  My wife and I didn't have much money in our twenties and early thirties but are now making up for lost time and doing a lot of overseas travel with our 3 kids age 12, 10 and 7. We just got home this week from a 3 month adventure in the USA. It was pretty awesome to be seeing amazing sights and experiences with our children and hopefully it will have some kind of positive impact on their future. Even if it doesn't I still had a great time! Every day wasn't perfect though, kids get bored, have melt-downs, siblings squabble and there were times when my wife and I would say 'let's come back here one day without the kids'.

  There is a big difference between "travelling" where you are constantly sight-seeing and moving accommodation and "holidaying" where you set up camp in a resort or caravan park for a week or two and chill out. Most kids are going to prefer holidays.

  The overseas travel is definitely for us parents, as our kids love staying in a caravan park by the beach just the same.

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  voteoften on 03/02/2019 - 10:25

  I have the feeling that any child of an ozbargainer will know already about the value of money. My daughter used to roll her eyes when I’d regale her with tales of heroic purchases. Now that she has a job she understands more about money.
  Forgoing trips is not going to make a difference to their attitudes. It’ll be the daily attitude towards money. The one thing I’d advise all parents is to not go exclusively to upscale places. And don’t knock others who go cheaper than you. You want them to understand that once they are supporting themselves that if they budget and spend wisely, they can likely go anywhere they want. Maybe not everywhere they want and maybe not upscale. It opens kids up to possibilities by travelling and also showing how to get great relative value for your buck.

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  dane45 on 11/02/2019 - 11:53

  When I was a kid, the only reason I ever wanted to travel was to go to the theme parks on the Gold Coast. Wasn't until I was around 14/15 that I became interested in going overseas.

  That said, I think there is probably value in travelling with your kids, and exposing them to other countries and how other people live. They might not be that fussed on temples and museums, but they might be interested in learning about how kids their age live in different counties. Once they start learning about history and geography at school, you could even look at travelling to some of the places they're learning about. Overall, I think growing up with an awareness of other cultures is a good thing.

  Getting them involved in planning holidays could also be a great practical example of the importance of budgeting, shopping around and using the internet to do research.

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  sal78 on 11/02/2019 - 23:20

  +1

  There are good deals for family travel. I have 3 kids 9,9,13 and we travel somewhere 2 -3x a yr. My husband is a teacher so we have to go in peak.

  I mean for example asian is always awesome. you could spend 4 weeks in asia over xmas then compare to how much you soend at home and it‘s very likely to be less lol

  We go to asia, europe, us etc my kids and i love skiing so try to find snow once a yr too. For example, skiing is so cheap in europe n much better facilities. €3 for one ride on lifts or €63 for kids 3 day pass! heated chairlifts and hood.

  We also love travelling around oz and nz is nice n close. Usually book something each school holiday whether its local or away.

  We also do couples trips. Hoping to do one to china this yr. So cheap and so much to explore, history, culture and food! Kunming, lijian, shangri la. Very kids unfriendly. last yr hubby and i took a week to lang co vietnam and yr before vc, whustler, nyc and washington dc in 12 days! we cant go for long but can get so much done and relax without kids.

  Last holidays just past we did a family trip to Tassie. A lot of hiking inc 6hr rtn to Marions Peak. Gordon river workd heritage area, one of the oldest rainforest in the world.. simply amazing. We r so blessed to have beautiful nature and wildlife. i think sooner or later tasmania will be the new tourist attraction for intl visitors. kids enjoyed the holiday.. they loved the historical part n the wildlife. hated the hiking lol

  my kids travel because imthey have no choice. they would happily to stay in hotel n swim
  in the pool. they r fussy now too. they prefer to stay home than go with us lol

  i actually cannot decide where i want to go next with kids. june/july is long enough holidays for europe and dec is just miserable with dark short daylight hrs. We have been to all the disneys n they r not interested.

  $8k a year should be able to afford you great holidays! keep a balance!

  there’s also boys trips n girls trips. happy for him to go on golfing trips n
  me on shopping trips.